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WorkSafe has filed charges against 13 parties for the Whakaari eruption in December 2019 that claimed 22 lives.
WorkSafe CEO Phil Parkes said at a news conference Monday afternoon that details of the investigation would not be released to avoid compromising the judicial process, and that he would not name any of the parties facing prosecutions for the tragedy.
However, GNS Science, which is responsible for monitoring volcanic activity on the island; the National Agency for Emergency Management (Civil Defense); and Ngāti Awa-owned tour operators Volcanic Air and White Island Tours have confirmed they face charges.
Parkes said the investigation did not consider the rescue and recovery of the victims after the eruption, no enforcement action had been taken on these matters and they would be the subject of other proceedings, such as a coronary investigation.
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60 MINUTES AUSTRALIA
Australian survivors of the Whakaari / White Island disaster say they felt abandoned after the island erupted.
Forty-seven people were on the island 52 kilometers off the coast of Whakātane when the crater exploded on December 9 last year, filling tourists and guides with rocks, ash clouds and toxic gases.
Many survivors suffered horrific burns and Ngāti Awa-owned tour operator White Island Tours came under scrutiny for continuing to take guided tours, despite the fact that GNS Science had raised its volcanic warning to alert level 2 two weeks earlier and banned your staff to approach the vents a week before the eruption.
Ten parties have been charged under the Occupational Health and Safety Act – nine under section 36 for failing to ensure the health and safety of workers and others, and one faces a charge as a person who controls a business.
Each of these charges carries a maximum penalty of a $ 1.5 million fine.
NZDF
A helicopter from the Royal New Zealand Air Force 3 Squadron lifts a 2.4 ton shipping container to the volcanic White Island after the eruption. The private helicopter companies that helped remove the disaster victims from the island will not face prosecution for those evacuations.
Three individuals are also charged under section 44 of the law which requires directors or persons with influence of a company to act with due diligence in order for the company to meet its health and safety obligations.
Each charge carries a maximum fine of $ 300,000.
The first hearing date is December 15 at the Auckland District Court.
In a statement on its website, GNS Science said it had not yet been informed of the nature of the charges it faced and that it would cooperate fully with authorities as it continued its monitoring role.
“We support our people and our science, which we will continue to provide for the benefit of New Zealand.”
Volcanic Air, which had a tour group on the island at the time it erupted and also assisted with rescue and recovery missions, said it was taking time to consider the details of the charges before commenting further.
Rosa Woods / Stuff
Tributes to the victims of the White Island tragedy on the Whakatāne boardwalk last year.
Ngāti Awa Holdings Chairman Paul Quinn said two charges for violating the Occupational Health and Safety Act were brought against the White Island Tours company, rather than against the employees or directors, and the community would rally in tears to the victims and pay your respects at the first. anniversary of the tragedy next week.
Parkes said those who went to the island did so with the reasonable expectation that proper systems were in place to ensure they returned home in a healthy and safe manner.
After what was the most extensive and complex investigation ever conducted by Worksafe, the agency concluded that those involved in bringing visitors to the island had not fulfilled their obligations under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
“Now it is up to the judicial system to determine whether or not they did.”
Most of the tourists on the island at the time of the eruption were from the Ovation of the Seas cruise ship that was visiting Tauranga, and the Royal Caribbean cruise line is facing legal action over the eruption that killed and injured passengers.
A US attorney acting on behalf of Whakaari survivors Matt and Lauren Urey said the Worksafe report was a “giant step in the right direction.”
The Ureys were on their honeymoon when they were caught in the eruption and attorney Michael Winkleman filed documents in the United States District Court of Florida suing Royal Caribbean Cruise Limited and tour company ID Tours New Zealand Limited for damages. .
He claimed there had been “clear negligence” in failing to warn passengers of the increased risk of an eruption in the weeks and days leading up to the tragedy.
Supplied
Tour guide Kelsey Waghorn at work on Whakaari / White Island. She was 25 years old when she was caught in the deadly Whakaari explosion last December and suffered full-thickness burns to 45 percent of her body.
Four guides employed by White Island Tours were also trapped in the disaster: Hayden Marshall-Inman and Tipene Maangi were killed, while Jake Millbank and Kelsey Waghorn were badly burned.
In addition to the WorkSafe investigation, police have been investigating the disaster on behalf of the coroner and announced last week that the total number of victims had risen to 22 following the death of 64-year-old Horst Westenfelder.
He died on July 2 at a hospital abroad where he was being treated for injuries received in the eruption.
White Island Tours had passed the required safety audits of operators in the WorkSafe adventure travel registry and, in 2018, won the small business category at the Safest Places to Work Awards, which recognized the way it managed the safety of the crew and clients in the tours to the active volcano.
The helicopter / Instagram page
A Volcanic Air Safaris helicopter was destroyed by the eruption of the White Island.
White Island Tours has not publicly commented on their decision-making processes in detail, but Paul Quinn of Ngāti Awa Holdings previously told the media that alerts at level 3 and above were communicating more directly with GNS, and level 2 was still “within our operational guidelines.”
After the disaster, WorkSafe confirmed that its investigation would look at the registration status of everyone who made excursions to Whakaari, which included various helicopter operators.
WorkSafe had repeatedly told Volcanic Air, Kahu NZ, and Aerius Helicopters that they should have been registered under the Adventure Activities Regulations, a call repeated weeks before the December eruption.
However, the helicopter operators claimed they received conflicting advice on whether their overland tours on White Island were covered by adventure activity regulations, and had spent months waiting for a definitive response from WorkSafe.
Parkes said there was no censorship of anyone at WorkSafe
